King’s Harbor Church
“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.” ― Abraham Lincoln
Prayer is everyone’s opportunity to engage their Creator, to call upon a “Higher Power” for care, wisdom and inspiration.
Over the last 20-plus years I’ve been a part of a group of pastors who gather once a month to encourage one another, to pray for one another, and this great community, and to share with each other resources that fuel our callings. What we do can be seen not just on our campuses but also in chaplain services that include crisis response, domestic violence care, and homeless ministries, as well as varying community services like Sharefest WorkDay and National Day of Prayer.
This week, we would like to remind everyone that Thursday, May 7, is National Day of Prayer.
The National Day of Prayer is a vital part of our heritage. The first national call to prayer was in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation. In 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer.” In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, officially established an annual National Day of Prayer.
In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Reagan, making the annual National Day of Prayer the first Thursday of May. President Reagan’s 1987 proclamation stated, “On our National Day of Prayer, then, we join together as people of many faiths to petition God to show us His mercy and His love, to heal our weariness and uphold our hope, that we might live ever mindful of His justice and thankful for His blessing.”
Each year, the President signs a new proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day.
Although we are not able to gather together this particular National Day of Prayer, I’d like to invite our community to pray individually and with families and close friends for strength, wisdom and healing.
Join me in praying for:
Our local community: City officials, our first responders, and those who have found themselves serving on the frontlines, in our local grocery stores. We pray for those preparing and delivering food and other important supplies. We cannot forget to pray for those in our neighborhoods who are the most vulnerable. Pray for everyone including those we disagree with.
National Leaders: Ask God to grant them wisdom, cooperation and humility as they serve their states and regions across this great nation. Pray for uncommon wisdom and unity for the greater good. We’ll let God decide what that good is.
We also pray for the world: COVID-19 has affected all persons, without respect to education, socio-economic position, gender or age. It reminds us we have a common need that only God can meet. We pray for salvation and healing of the nations from the effects of this virus, but even more so, for understanding that we all need the Creator of the Universe to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves; to bring us together, every tongue, tribe, and nation. God is moving according to the scriptures. (Romans 8:31-19)
Charles Spurgeon said of prayer: “All our perils are nothing, so long as we have prayer.”
Let us pray, let us reach out to love our neighbor, to connect to one another for the sake of God’s love and for the opportunity to see God’s love made manifest in our cities, neighborhoods, friendships and families.
His and yours,
Because of amazing grace.
